The Imaginary Alu
by Yemi Hikari
Summary: Shiro remembers Keith's imaginary friend as a child.


_Disclaimer – I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender. This was written for my 2017 prompt challenge. Prompt six was to write a one-shot between 500 to 1,000 words. This works with the theory that Keith and Shiro are brothers._

 **The Imaginary Alu**

The pain in his head throbbed, yet he couldn't remember the cause.

Shiro found himself standing in the middle of the traditional garden back home. The haziness indicated he was experiencing some kind of memory as a pink leaf fell from the cherry tree to the koi pond below. On the positive side, this memory wasn't a flashback. On the negative side, the black paladin didn't seem to be coming out of said memory either.

The sound of a child singing drew his attention away from the pond. When he turned his head, he saw a child with hair the same color of his playing a traditional clapping game, and yet the child had no companion to join in. The voice was familiar, and Shiro found himself calling out to the child. "Keith?"

The child stopped his game and turned to look at him, a smile on his face. "Nii-nii."

"What are you doing?"

"Playing." Keith turned back to what he was doing and started up again.

Shiro frowned. " _Why this moment?_ " He walked forward. "Yeah, but who are you playing with. I don't see anybody."

"Yup!"

The black paladin knelt down. "Keith, nobody's here. How about you come inside the house."

Shiro watched his younger brother take a deep breath. "Alu doesn't like you."

"So, he has a name?" Keith had always been a bit of a problem, if not strange. Hence why he liked being called Keith instead of Akira, but then the adoption and change of family name didn't help either.

"She."

"Oh. So now you've got a girlfriend."

The child tilted his head, looking at Shiro as if he were stupid. "Yes. My friend's a girl."

"That…" Shiro took a deep breath. "What does this _girl_ look like?"

Little Keith thinking was always adorable, his small facial features scrunching up for quite a few minutes. He then turned back. "Um…"

"Is she pretty?"

A smile spread across his younger brother's face. "Like mama!"

"You mean she's got the same hair and eye color as mom."

"No Shiro! She's got the same eye color, but her hair is white like…" Keith looked around. "Well, white. And her skin is the color of chocolate milk. I like chocolate milk."

"So, do you and Alu want me to get you two chocolate milk?" Shiro watched Keith fold his arms across his chest. "What?"

"Alu's not really here."

"So…"

"We can play things like hide and seek."

"So, she's your age?"

Keith held up his hand. "She's this tall."

"So, about your height."

"Oh!" Keith's eyes widened. He shaped his fingers over the top of his ears to form a point. "Her ears are pointed like a youkai. She acts like one too."

"You mean she has a temper."

The corner of Keith's mouth twitched. "Alu just got mad at me for telling you that."

"Anything else she doesn't want you to tell me."

His brother leaned over. "Alu's a princess and lives in an ice castle where she's sealed away by ice. She's got a bunch of kitties I want to play with, but can't."

"Oh, so does she need you to rescue her." Shiro watched his brother glare at him again. "What?'

"Alu's mad at you now. She says girls can fight just as well as boys, if not better. She can take care of the purple monsters on her own.

The memory began to fade as someone called out his name, and Shiro started to come to. The first thought which came to mind was how glad Keith finally outgrew that stage, and also thankfully forgot about said stage. The second thought though that came to his mind was different, as a familiar face appeared in front of him.

Princess Allura leaned over, looking worried. She was a princess, with a castle who had been frozen. She also had kitties that Keith liked playing with, so to speak. Her eyes were the same color as their mothers, and her hair was white. Her skin was kind of the color of chocolate milk. She wasn't though the same height as Keith when he was that age he had an imaginary friend. She also had pointed ears and a temper.

"Oh boy." He was now in the lounge

"Oh, the boy is right. You ended up getting hurt, Shiro."

"Sorry." His eyes drifted over to Keith, watching as his younger brother started. "Oh…"

"Oh, what?"

"Allura, can I talk to Keith for a second? Without the others?"

The princess glared but finally gave in. Shiro rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, Keith." The red paladin stared, his lips pushing together. "Do you remember your imaginary friend as a child?"

The younger teen crossed his arms. "Shiro, seriously?"

"Well?"

"Yeah, no."

"So, you don't remember your girlfriend."

"Eww, no. Kissing and stuff is gross."

"You really don't remember her?"

"Alu?" Keith paused. "Could we not talk about that? If Lance walks in, I'm dead. He'll never let me live it down."

"Do you remember what she looked like? You told me once."

"Oh yeah. My imaginary friend actually looked like Allura, but a lot younger. Why do you ask?"

Shiro stared, wondering how the implication was going over his younger brother's head, but then realized many things did. "Oh, never mind. It just seemed like a heck of a coincidence."

"Yeah, but Allura doesn't remind me of mom. She irritates the hell out of me."

"Oh." The black paladin sighed. "So you don't like Allura."

"No. That's what's irritating me. Can I go now?"

"Sure…" Shiro let out a sigh, wondering why Keith was so strange. However, it was this strangeness which allowed them to find the blue lion and becomes paladins.


End file.
